Seismic design of retaining walls is traditionally based on the Mononobe-Okabe method of analysis. In recent years a number of theoretical analyses have been presented to predict the seismic behaviour of gravity retaining walls. In this paper some shaking table tests performed on a small prototype of gravity wall retaining dry sand are described and the experimental results are presented with the aim to provide, though qualitatively, an insight into some important aspects of the dynamic behaviour of retaining structures resting on rigid foundation soil. The M-O theory do not consider the particular boundary condition that in the practical design of retaining structures are often in use like backfill geometries or loading condition. Shaking table studies were carried out in order to study the dynamic behaviour of gravity retaining walls resting on rigid foundation soil. Two different system have been taken into consideration namely, a wall retaining a horizontal backfill on which uniform surcharge was placed and a wall on which the uniform surcharge was placed to a distance «d» to the head of the wall
